brooks



(No Model.)

- E. J. BROOKS.

SEAL.

Patented June 19,1894.

Inventor.

Witnesses Attorney.

UNITED STATES PATENT ,rrron.

EDWARD J. BROOKS, OF EAST ORANGE, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR TO THE E. J.BROOKS &; COMPANY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

SEAL.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N0. 521,757, dated June 19,1894. Application filed January 23,1894. Serial No. 497,799. (No model.)

' To aZZ whom it may concern:

l 3e it known that I, EDWARD J. BROOKS, a cltlzen of the United Statesof America, and a resident of East Orange, in the State of New Jersey,have invented a new and useful Improvement in Seals, of which thefollowing is a specification.

This invention relates to what are known as lead-and-wire seals,fastened by means of seal-presses and employed to secure the doors ofrailway freight-cars, 850., against beng opened by unauthorized persons,or to lnsure the detection of any such violation of a fastening, and tolocate the same.

Tl1e subject-matter of the present inventlon rs-an improved seal, of theabove descrlptlon, the vital part of which, where the shackle-ends areanchored, is completely inclosed in a sheet-metal shell, so as topreclude successfully tampering with the seal by cutting into thelead,and-which is at the same tune adapted to be shipped and handled as onepart, including the wire, to be threaded without bending eithershackleend, like ordinary lead and wire seals, and to be easily pressedin ordinary seal-presses of difierent makes, and to be provided withdlstlnguishing marks suificiently large to be readily recognized. Acomparatively small central portion of the lead is all that has to becompressed by the seal-press in order to securely fasten the seal, andstamp either or both of its faces with distinct press-marks in a neatand finished manner.

The invention consists in certain novel combinations of parts, embodiedin said improved seal, as hereinafter set forth and claimed.

A sheet of drawings accompanies this specification as part thereof.

' Figure 1 of the drawings shows face and edge views of that part of theimproved seal which is made of lead. Fig. 2 shows corresponding insideface and edge views of the two shellparts, which are made of sheetmetal.Fig. 3 shows face and edge views of the improved seal as it leaves thefactory. Fig. 4 shows face and edge views of the improved seal after ithas been fastened in a seal-press. Fig. 5 represents a magnifiedcross-section on the line 55 Fig. 3. Fig. 6

represents a magnified cross-section on the line 6-6 Fig. 4; and Fig. 7represents a magtermed the leaden part, or the lead, two shellparts B Bof stamped sheet-metal, such as the iron used for making button shells,and a shackle-wire O of any suitable description. The leaden part A iscast with a disk-shaped oblate ellipsoid, or convexo-convex, and with fheads 2 and 3, preferably of different sizes to distinguish them fromeach other, at the respective faces of the body; a pair of threadingholes 4. and 5 extending through the lead, from edge to edge, eitherparallel with each other as shown, or so as to cross the shackle ends asin my drawings forming part of Patent No. 161,475, dated March 30, 1875.To inclose said body 1 of, the leaden part A constructed as above, theshell-parts B and B of the improved seal are both annular as shown inFig. 2, having apertures 2 3 for the protrusion of said heads 2 and 3respectively, and overlapping marginal flanges 6 and 7 provided. incommon with holes 48 5 corresponding with said threading holes 4 and 5of the lead; one or both shell-parts being preferably provided, in thestamping dies by which they are produced, with permanent lettering ordistinguishing marks, 8, of any suitable description, such as the nameor initials of a railway or express company in whose behalf the seal isto be used.

The particular shackle wire shown at O in the drawings is of thedescription set forth in my specification forming part of Patent No.

body, 1, Fig. 1, preferably in the form of an 179,260, dated June 27,1876, being of thick single wire provided with anchoring indentations inits threading ends 9 and 10.

In assembling the parts at the factory, the lead A is placed within theshell-part B with its threading holes in line with those of theshell-part, and is covered by the shell-part B One end (9) of theshackle wire 0 is then inserted through one set of threading-holes,

(4 4,) and a pin is inserted in the other, (5 5.) The shell-parts B Bare then subjected to the action of a machine similar to the machinesused for completing buttons containing such shell-parts, the eifect ofwhich is to securely Interlock the shell -parts with each other, and toclose the threading holes first named within the lead to a sufficientextent to permanently fasten in the wire 0, as in Figs. 3 and 5. Saidpin is then withdrawn, leaving the other set of threading holes clear.These eventually receive the other end (10) of the shackle-wire C, andthe seal is finally fastened in an ordinary seal-press by pressureapplied to the heads 2 and 3, compressing the lead around those portionsof the shackleends which are Within the seal-disk, and stamping therespective heads with distinguishing marks 11 and 12, as in Figs. 4 and6. In this pressing operation the exposed heads 2 and 3 and the leaddirectly beneath them is all that need be acted on by the seal-press;the threading-holes 4 and 5 being located in this portion of the lead asin Figs. 1 and 5. The dies of thepress may consequently be of smalldiameter as compared with the diameter of the seal-disk, and butcomparatively little power is required to perfectly press and stamp theseal as compared with other seals having threaded disks of like diameteras heretofore constructed.

The modifications illustrated by Fig. 7 consist in omitting one of theheads of the lead A and the corresponding aperture of one of the shellparts B B and in keeping both of the threading-holes 4 and 5 open whenthe shell-parts are united, so that the improved seal-part, consistingof the lead in its shell, may be used in connection with shackles ofdiflerent lengths or of different makes or kinds. The permanentlettering 8 and the press-marks 11 and 12 may of course be of anypreferred description, and either cameo or intaglio in each instance; itis not essential that the parts A B and B should be circular; nor that asecond shell-part, B should be employed in all cases; nor that theleaden partA should project or be exposed at either or both faces of theseal-disk when preliminarily inclosed by a two-part shell as abovedescribed, provided that the shell in this modification is compressibletogether with the leaden part; and other like modifications until theseal is ready to be will suggest themselves to those skilled in the art.

The improved seals hereinbefore described are distinguished from theWappensteiu seal, set forth in expired Patent No. 87,017, by theimpossibility of uniting the parts of the latter pressed, which involvescarrying and handling its rivetat least separate and distinct from theremainder of the seal, and the bending of the shackleends within thecut-proof shell to admit the rivet. In cold weather and at might suchcomplications are serious difficulties. In th e improved seals all theparts may be preliminarily united at the factory as illustratedby Figs.3 and 5 of the drawings accompanying this specification, and in themodified seal re presented by Fig. 7 the lead part A and the shell-partsB and B which form its cut-proof shell are inseparably united at thefactory, and the improved seal-disk formed by these parts may beattached to one end of the shackle by compressing one side of its head 2preliminary to finally threading and pressing the seal.

Having thus described the said improvement, I claim as my invention anddesire to patent under this specification- 1. The combination, in theunpressed seal, of a leaden part having a disk-shaped body provided witha pair of threading-holes and a pair of sheet-metal shell-parts havingoverlapping marginal rims provided with holes in line with saidthreading-holes, the seal-disk so formed being adapted to be fastened onone end of a shackle-wire by preliminary compression, substantially ashereinbefore speciiied.

2. The combination, in the unpressed seal, of a leaden part having adisk-shaped body provided with a pair of threading-holes and withoppositely projecting heads of less diameter than said body, apermanently-attached sheet-metal shell exposing said heads, and providedwith holes in line with said threading-holes, and a shackle-Wire one endof which is fastened by preliminary compression within one of saidthreading-holes, substantially as hereinbefore specified.

EDWARD J. BROOKS.

Witnesses:

NORMAN S. KLINE, H. L. O. WENK.

